Striking mechanism for clocks



(No Model.) 7

H. L. NARAMORE.

STRIKING MEGHANISM FOR CLOCKS.

No. 319,925. Patented June 9, 1885.

UNITED STATES PATENT trace.

HENRY L. NARAMORE, OF SHARON, MASSACHUSETTS.

STRIKING MECHANISM FOR CLOCKS.

SPECIFICATION fcrming part of Letters Patent No. 319,925, dated June 9, 1885.

Application filed April 21, 1884. (No model.) Patented in England February 20, 1884, No. 3,665 in France February 23 1884, No. 160,529; in Belgium February .26,1884,No. 64,283,- in Germany February 26, 1881, No. 29.358, and in Canada May 27, 1884,

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY L. NARAMORE, of Sharon, in the county of Norfolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Clocks. This invention was patented in England February 20, 1884, No. 3,665; in Belgium February 26, 1884:, No. 64,283; in France February 23, 1884,

No. 160, 529; in Germany February 26, 1884,

No. 29,358, and in Canada May 27, 1884, No. 19,421. The following is a description sufficiently full, clear, and exact to enable any person skilled in the art or science to which said invention appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a rear elevation of the countinging-wheel detached; Fig. 2, an edge View of the same; Fig. 3, a sectional front elevation showing the countingwheel, striking-hammer, lever, and bells in position for use; Fig. 4, an isometrical perspective view showing a section of the counting-wheel, lever, and the method of attaching the hammer-wire to its rocker-shaft; and Fig. 5 a side elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 3, looking from the left, the bells being modified.

Like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the dili'erent figures of the drawings.

My invention relates exclusively to clocks which are provided with striking mechanism; and it consists in a novel construction and arrangement of the parts, as hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed, by which a more desirable and effective device of this character is produced than has heretofore been in ordinary use. As usually constructed, clocks havin g a train of striking mechanism are provided with but one bell and one striking-hammer, and when furnished with a chime of several bells to produce a combination of musical tones each bell is provided with an independent hammer. In clocks having but one bell on which the hours and fractional parts of the hours are struck, unless the dial is in full view, it is necessary for the listener to wait until the entire number of strokes have been given by the hammer, or until the clock has finished striking, before the hour can be ascertained. This frequently occasions much inconvenience and annoyance, as the strokes are liable to be incorrectly counted; but more especially in the night-time, when one is awakened by the striking of the clock and is uncertain as to whether the full number of strokes have been heard or notfor instance, if but three strokes of the clock should be heard by a person just waking from a sound sleep, he would be uncertain whether they were the last three strokes for the hour of eleven, or whether but three had been struck in all, or, in other words, whether it was eleven o clock at night or three o clock in the morning. My invention is designed to obviate these and other objections, and to that end I make use of a series consisting of two or more bells, one or more for each hour, if desired, in combination with suitable striking mechanism, each bell being different in pitch or tone from either of the others in the sameset, so that by hearing but a single stroke of the clock, either night or day, a person may know what time it is without the necessity of examining the dial, as will be seen by the following explanation.

In the drawings, A represents the faceplate, B the counting-wheel, and J the rocker shaft, the section of wheel in Fig. l being shown as enlarged. The counting-wheel is mounted upon an arbor, 00, and provided with the hour-notches a b 66, intermediate teeth, t, and a counting wire or pawl, O, in the usual manner. The rocker shaft J is j ournalcd horizontally in the plates of the clock, and

provided with the ordinary striking wire or arm, H, and retracting-spring l, which is coiled about the body of the shaft and has one of its ends secured to the pin a and the other in the plate A, as shown at y in Fig. 4. Ahammer-wire, E, provided at its lower end with the striker or hammer G, passes through a vertical elongated slot, :4, formed in the rock er-shaft, and has its upper end jointed or pivoted at e to a stud, f, which projects from the upper side of said shaft. A pendent bracket,

K, provided with the inwardly-projecting arm m, is secured to the plate A, and centrally pivoted thereon at w is a horizontally-arranged lever, D, one end of which presses on the inner face of the wheel B and the other against the inner side of the hammer-wire E, said wire being provided with a coiled spring, L, attached to the rear plate of the clock or any other suitable support, and acting contractively to keep it in forcible contact with said lever. The wheel B is provided on its inner face with a series of lifts or segmental flanges arranged in three groups, M N 1?, each group containing three lifts of unequal lengths, and each lift in any particular group varying in height from the other lifts in the same group. The length of the lifts and the spaces between the groups of lifts correspond, respectively, with thenumber of strokes to be given to the bell by the hammer, while the height of each lift corresponds, respectively, with the bell to be struck. This arrangement of the lifts divides the counting-wheel into three sections of four hours each, each section consisting of a single group of lifts .and the space between the same and the preceding groupfor instance, the first section consists of the group M and the space between it and the group P, which space is marked 1; the second section consists of the group N and the space between it and the group M, which space is marked 5; and the third section consists of the group P and the space marked 9, each space and each lift (see Fig. 1) being marked with afigure or figures corresponding with the hour to which it relates. The end of each lift is inclined at an angle of about fortyfive degrees, as best seen at c in Fig. 4; but its body is level on top, being of uniform height throughout its entire length, the object of the inclined end i being to permit the end of the lever D to easily pass from one lift to another as the wheel revolves.

In Fig.3 the wheel B is represented as being in the position it assumes immediately after the clock has struck twelve, and in readi ncss at the proper time to strike one, the counting wire or pawl 0 being in the notch a, corresponding with the hour 12, the wheel end of the lever D resting in the space marked 1 on the wheel B between the groups P and M and the hammer G in a position to strike the bell Q.

In the use of my improvement, the parts being in the position last described and the clock running, the stop wire or catch, (not shown,) which holds the striking mechanism at rest, will in due time be withdrawn, thereby permitting the counting-wire O to be raised and the striking mechanism to act. At or about the same time the ordinary striking pin or cam (not shown) will be brought into contact with the striking wire or arm H, causing the shaft J to be partially rotated and the hammer G raised, and as the pin escapes over the end of the wire in the ordinary way and the wire is released the torsional action of the springZ will cause the bell Q to receive one stroke of the hammer. The wheel B continuing to be rotated in the usual manner the counting-wire G will fall into the next succeeding hour-notch 6, thereby bringing the stop wire or catch into the proper position to again stop or look the striking mechanism. When the wheel B commences its movements preparatory to the clock striking one, as described, the wheel end of the lever D is resting on the inner face of said wheel in the space marked 1 and against the lift 12; but as the wheel rotates the lever is brought to the foot of the incline i of lift 2, the length of said space corresponding with the distance the wheel moves when the clock strikes one. lrVhcn the clock strikes the next time, or two, the lever D being against the incline i of lift 2 as the wheel B rotates the end of said lever will ride upwardly over the incline onto the top or face of the lift, and thereby swing the lever on its pivot 10, and cause it to force the hammer-wire E outwardly, bringing the hammer G into position to strike the bell It, or second one in the series, the hammer being held in that position by the lift 2 until both strokes have been struck. When it is time for the clock to strike three, the parts are operated in substantially the same manner as described for two, the end of the lever D riding up the incline 6 onto the lift 3 and swinging the hammer G into position to strike the corrosponding bell S. From the lift 3 the lever D next passes up the incline i onto the lift 4, bringing the hammer into position to strike the. bell T or the last in the series, and after four strokes have been given the lever falls over the end of the lift onto space 5, thereby permitting the spring L to cause the hammer to return to its normal position over the bell Q, preparatory to striking five.

It will be obvious that the wheel B may be provided, if desired, with twelve or more lifts arranged in regular succession, according to height and length, the wheel B being properly constructed to correspond therewith, and a sufficiency of bells employed; also, that as many groups of lifts may be used as desired, within reasonable limits; but for all practical purposes four bells and nine lifts, arranged as shown, are deemed 'to be sufficient.

The wheel B, when constructed as represented and described, will cause the hours one, five, and nine to be struck on bell Q, the hours two, six, and ten 011 bell B, the hours three, seven, and eleven on bell S, and the hours four, eight, and twelve on bell T; but I do not confine myself to this form of construction, as each lift in any given section may, if desired, be of uniform height with all of the other lifts in the same section, thereby causing all of the hours pertaining to that section to be struck on one bellfor instance, if the lifts Nos. 2, 8, and4c were of uniform height with No. 2 the hours corresponding therewith would all be struck on bell B, and so on through the series. Neither do I confine my- IIO self tothe special devices shown and described for bringing the striking hammer into proper position and causing it to strike different bells at different hours, as these may be varied, as desired, without entirely departing from the spirit of my improvement. The spaces Nos. 1, 5, and 9 may, also, if desired, be united, or the spaces 5 and 9 dispensed with, and the space numbered 1 enlarged to such an extent as to cause the clock to strike the hours one, two, three, and four on bell Q, lifts being provided on the wheel B, and arranged in regular succession as to height and length in such a manner as to cause the other hours to be struck on as many different bells as expedient.

It will be understood that each of the bells Q R S T differ in tone or pitch from either of the others in the set-for instance, Q representing one, B three, S five, and T eight of the musical scale, or any other variations desired.

A modification of the form of the bells is shown in Fig. 5; but bells of any suitable kind or style may be used, providing they diifer sufficiently in tone.

It will be evident that as small a number as two bells of different tones and but one lift may be employed, if desired; also, that instead of placing the lifts on the countingwheel, an independent or special wheel may be used to perform substantially the same functions, the lifts being placed either on its side or periphery, as preferred, and the wheel connected with a suitable lever or system of levers with the hammer-wire in such a manner as to shift the hammer from bell to bell, substantially as described. Instead of either of the bells QR S T,two or more bells tuned to produce musical chords may be substituted, being so arranged as to be" struck simultaneously by the hammer. For instance, when two bells are used instead of the bell Q they may have tones one and three of the musical scale, and when three are cur ployed tones one, three, and five, or any other combination desired,thereby making the clock very attractive, interesting, and instructive, especially for the young, as it trains them to discriminate between sounds of a different pitch or tone, and also between different combinations of musical sounds, thereby aiding materially in cultivating a musical taste.

The rear plate of the clock and also all of the time mechanism and some of the striking mechanism have been omit-ted in the drawings and description, as they are not deemed essential in order to show my invention.

I do not herein claim, broadly, mechanism for sounding a plurality of bells by a single striking mechanism in a clock, such subjectmatter being claimed in my application N 0. 162,150, filed complete April 13, 1885.

Having thus explained my improvement, what I claim is 1. In a clock substantially such as described, the wheel 13, provided with two or more cams or lifts varying in length and height, and adapted to operate on a lever or other device connecting said wheel with the hammer, and thereby move the hammer from bell to bell and regulate its strokes in accordance with the hour being struck, substantially as specified.

2. In aclock substantially such as described, the wheel B,provided with a series of cams or lifts arranged in groups, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. Inaclock substantially such as described, the rocker-shaft J, provided with the wire or arm H, slot 2, stud f, hammer-wire E, and springs I. Z, combined and arranged to operate substantially as set forth.

4. In aclock substantially such as described, the rocker-shaft J ,providcd with the strikingwire H, hammer-wire E, and springs L l, the wheel B,provided with the lifts 2 8 4, the wire 0, pivoted lever D, and bells Q, It S T, combined and arranged to operate substantially as specified.

HENRY L. NARAMORE.

\Vitnesses:

G. A. SHAW, L. J. WHITE. 

